Construction professionals at work

It’s no secret that budgets are tight in California. For some time, the budget crisis has threatened to hit California’s court system, and it finally has in signficant fashion with large scale layoffs across the state.  According to an Associated Press report, layoffs were made state-wide at civil and criminal courthouses, with Los Angeles County suffering the greatest laying off 157 workers and affecting 431 total employees (that’s 10% of the county’s court workers).

What does this mean for folks looking to file mechanics liens in Los Angeles County or throughout California?

Well, we’re not sure yet…but it can’t be good. As you may remember from a blog post last year, sending liens by mail for recording is a bad idea in many California counties because the recorders are weeks behind the mail in recording. In Los Angeles county they are as far back as 6 weeks!

If you were to send your lien for recording 5 weeks before your deadline, your lien may very well be recorded late!  That’s absurd, but it’s a fact of life in California right now, and so lien claimants want to make certain that their mechanics liens and other liens are brought into the county recorder’s office by hand (through a courier).

We’ll continue monitoring the situation in California to make certain that all Levelset liens are recorded without delay. If you’re recording it on your own, however, be very aware of the budget problems facing these recorders, and make sure you get your lien claims stamped and in your hands as quickly as possible.

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